Heritage structure in Lucknow’s medical varsity set to dissapear

Lucknow, Oct 3 (IANS) With beautiful cupolas, cornices and two domes set majestically on top, a 97-year-old heritage building on the campus of Lucknow’s Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj University, known as King George’s Medical University will soon make way for a new multi-storeyed building.Considering the dilapidated condition of the nearly 100-year-old building, the administration of the varsity has decided to dismantle it and set up a multi-storeyed building offering the latest medical facilities in its place.

“It has been unanimously decided that a new OPD block will come up in place of the old building that housed departments including orthopaedics, ear-nose-throat (ENT) and other disciplines,” university Vice-Chancellor Saroj Churamani Gopal told IANS.

“We have already started shifting and evacuating the old buildings,” she added.

According to varsity officials, they had no option but to raze the old building.

“There were two reasons why we decided to raze the building. First, it’s in a sorry state. Second, shortage of space to set up the new OPD block,” said a senior varsity official, preferring anonymity.

He said: “We held umpteen number of meetings with the government authorities to provide us space for setting up the OPD block. But since neither any assurance was given nor any initiative taken by the state government, we finally decided to dismantle the old building.”

The building can be razed anytime now, officials said.

The building came up in 1911 on the site of ‘Machhi Bhawan’, also known as ‘Fort of Lucknow’, which had been blown up by the British in the 1857 war. The King George’s Medical College (now CSMMU) was built on this historical site in 1905.

The move to bulldoze the building has left city historians aghast.

“Such a building evokes memories of nawabs and their culture. The government must make serious efforts to restore such buildings.” said Roshan Taqi, general secretary of Historical and Archaeological Research Centre for Awadh (HARCA).